Births

Unfortunately I am not keeping out with the blog, so much happens and I forget.
 I have felt inspired to update the blogs of my freebirthed babies with finally Day's montage.
 Day's birth
 As well as  photos to show how much J has grown over the past few birthdays (3rd,2nd,and 1st). He now has shorter hair and talks in sentences. Strong for a reason is my bet. This year he will be 4. He is often asked if he goes to school or Kinder sohe must look much older. At this stage we plan for him tobe homeschooling alongside his big brother. I am feeling confident about my children not going to school. We are slowly building upanetwork of likeminded parents and that has helped agreat deal. We even had a chat with a local who is considering homeschooling. Three of his children are at the same high school as my daughter and he isn't impressed with them either.

I am reminded why I don't blog too often, I ramble....

The birth of Freckle has been on my mind in most recent days. I was able to attend the blessingway and having some purple threads tied around my wrist helps me think of it.
I made the precious boy a breastfeeding beanie and I was honored to see it on him in some gorgeous photos.

I have been sporadically knitting and crocheting and my stash has dwindled. I have been busy and quite distracted doing various things.
My big girl turned 12 towards the end of February, she maturing in many ways, her hormones prove to me she is not a little girl. We went to a vegan cafe for lunch on her birthday.

I remember my daughter's birth.I remember the morning sickness  I suffered during the pregnancy, how strange it seemed that antenatal care seemed pointless, how the doctors wanted me to abort our much wanted child in the case she may have a chromosomnal abnormality like my sister had. I remember how I was ignored through the labour and how they took over as my baby crowned and treated me with such disrespect that I didn't understand.  I had no expectations or even a birth plan. I tore and the doctor took so long to repair it and this was a source of trauma for me as well as possibly the shock. I found the emotions of being a new mother incredibly overwhelming.

My girl was born chubby and so healthy.

Such a gorgeous little soul, I look back and wish I enjoyed those moments more.I was unwell when she was a baby possibly due to the birth and depression. I had Graves disease and when she was a toddler, I had surgery to remove my thyroid.

I feel have made so many mistakes but I don't know it all and I will continue to learn.

Crawling baby

We have settled okay into our new home and though its far from perfect we can make do. &nbsp;Day has been crawling and getting around the place. A typical day sees him crawl/play/discover, feed, sleep and repeat. He is 6 months in about 5 days and I amazeId at his character &nbsp;that is shining through. He smiles, laughs, giggles and enjoys being tactile as well as all those wonderful things most babies do. He also cries which surprises some people as he is so calm and easy going.<br /

I am working on a new pattern which I hope I can release as my first paid pattern.<br />
Its crochet shortalls for babies.<br />

I have been enjoying &nbsp;steep learning curve with new technology. I have a Asus transformer. I bought it primarily to use while knitting/crocheting as I heard people usingiPad for that purpose. After much research I thought the TF101 was the best option. I am quite happy with it though having not ever owned an android phone or tablet its all news to me. One thing that I can't do is edit photos ie. rearange or drag photos into my project pages on Ravelry. &nbsp;Yesterday I discovered Ballero, Ravulous as well as County Plus which can be synced with Ravelry which is great. I really like the ease of Ballero and it has a local yarn store locator which I imagine would be useful with a phone especially.

Limbo

In limbo, life is. In this incredibly cold Winter, we have had no gas heating, relying on cheap heaters to keep warm, no mean feat in this house in Melbourne. Its sad that we didn't fight to get the heater fixed, we are really too nice. We knew the landlord wouldn't want to fix anything yet would he live here? Lack of ventilation, no smoke alarms, rising damp, the list goes on. But I refrain from ranting too much. He has plans to demolish so we are moving out. The house he started to build in the backyard is basically a concrete slab with tubing for plumbing purposes.

Only recently did we get our youngest son's birth certificate, he is almost 4 months. We literally have no money to move. But it seems we do have a house to move into. Its nearby and okay though small. A good reason to minimise our lives even further. That does interest me but my daughter did say "Stop making wool stuff! You would have more room" That is definitely my addiction. But I can't say I have stash. What would I do if I didn't make too much for my babies and even myself? At least my joy continues when others get use out of what I make too.

Tama pattern is great. I have made a few of these I think though modified as it wasn't designed for babies. I love them as they are easy on/off unlike cardigans.

I have won a few KALs on Ravelry which is a bonus as I just enjoy being involved. The patterns I have received only encourage me to knit more. :)

My almost 6 year old is an appreciator of what I make. He adored the neckwarmer I made just because so he claimed it. Also found a somewhat unattractive sweater I made for my daughter years ago and he has been wearing it every day. I love that.

I have been teaching my daughter's class to crochet a granny square. It is hard work and requires patience but there is some success. I think they are more excited about a baby at school. They were taken aback about him feeding not from a bottle but from his Mama. That is unfortunate that society has taught our children that babies are fed with a bottle. I know and respect that some are but most babies at least have a drop of the good stuff.

Smiling bubby boy.

One of 4 skirts I crocheted for my girl.         

Craft break

A pair of longie with added pocket. The longies are crocheted and the pcoket was knit so I could embellish a watermellish guitar.Yes I do like guitars.
I am currently having break from crafting, firstly because I literally have no yarn stash and have no money to buy more and secondly to focus on the pregnancy and doing a few other things I have been wanting to do. Namely, reading a few books (Red Tent and Birthing From Within), cleaning house properly (washing walls and all that fun stuff) and just enjoying my family as it is now. I am working on a latch hook rug but its slow going as its a fair size. I am very aware I wont have much time or inclination to craft for the first 6 months of being a mama to 5.

Another pair of longies. These were both made with BWM yarns and will fit bub at about 6mth I think.

A staying home dress. Its very cute, I love the idea of making dresses but don't have much reason to. My daughter is 11 and going into ladies sizes so its fun to make baby dresses even if I do get to gift it.

I do enjoy the Versa. This one I made to the 10ply pattern with 12ply yarn.

Slippers that fit J, he actually likes these.

Made a few washers, and scrubbies as they are always useful and use up cotton scraps.

So I am in my 34th week of pregnancy and its all good. Interestingly when I have prelabour I get so excited about the idea of setting up the birth pool, of going into labour and giving birth. I am looking forward to it. But at other times I am worried. I don't feel ready, even with at least a few weeks to go til I think I will be in labour, it seems its so close. This pregnancy has gone rather quickly (though when I had the severe MS it went incredibly slow) and I can see it will have an end and think maybe going to 43weeks wont be so bad. But then with J, 42 weeks felt so right so its normal to me.
Our landlord has pulled down our sheds (rather his friend did and the boys loved watching) and the carport too. Our backyard is a shambles as we wait for a skip to load it into. A temporary fence will soon be put up and we will lose our big backyard to a new townhouse the landlord is building. This is not a surprise to us as he let us know his plans before we moved in so after 2 and a half years he has begun to make a move. The silver lining is our rent has been reduced and we may move into the townhouse when its built, the garage may work as another room and we can get out of this house that sorely needs to be renovated at the least or rebuilt at best. I just wish it would happen before bub was born as I am finding it hard to nest at this stage and get much done as we have so little space. Financially we are doing it tough but we will adapt, happily we pay off the van this year and hopefully this will free us to do what we really want to do, lifestyle wise but we shall see. I almost feel trapped at this stage. At any rate, I am rambling.

My 5 year old boy received his first certificate at Karate last week. This means he is yellow tip or 9th kyu. The sensei thinks he is working well for his first grading to yellow belt. He is very excited (though initially surprised and chuffed) to be doing Karate and working towards something.

He is also enjoying copying the letters of the alphabet and random words he finds. I am glad its his choice to do this as he is learning for himself. I have only said its easier to understand computer games when you can read so maybe that is his motivation!  He also enjoys basic numbers and can now count confidently to ten. He is learning the alphabet and even though most children knows these things as toddlers, his depth of understanding seems to be great. He asks lots of questions and makes some interesting conclusions and I love his freethinking ways!

We have a deal that he can go on the computer if he helps clean the loungeroom and get dressed. He used to hate cleaning up the smallest mess but now without complaint, will tidy up and even sweep. He even says "Its easy to clean!"
Its been 2 and a half years since my youngest child was born into my hands, lifted out of the water and onto my chest. I was amazed by his barrel chest and big lips, which to this day he still has. Only child of mine who didn't have breastfeeding lip (where the lip tends to get dry in the middle because of sucking) possibly because his lips are so big and they curl when he feeds. This is a wonderful thing I can do for him, feed til this age and beyond. Since I have been producing colostrum he is very interested again.

Just for remembrance sake, just moments after his birth, which took his father by surprise. It was such a quick and easy birth after experiencing FER (foetal ejection reflex), a great example of a normal physiological birth, a truly natural birth.

Summer, did it ever arrive?

Its now Autumn, and I don't remember a Summer. I think we had the occasional hot day but for the most part its been cold! Even being pregnant, hasn't kept me warm.
February saw my daughter turn 11.

 On her birthday, we took her to dinner at Smorgy's, then the next day we took the big kids out of school to take them to the NGV as she was keen to visit an art gallery.

She also was nominated and won the vote to be a SRC at school. This involved preparing and presenting a speech in front of half the school (grade 3 -6 students vote). She aint shy like me. She enjoys being involved and takes great responsibility in her new calling. She isn't doing any other activities at this stage which is her choice.
My 7 year old is enjoying school and likes being the youngest in the older grades. Nothing wrong with my childrens self esteem. Makes me so proud and happy for them when they tell me how good they are at something, realistic too when they don't understand things too, asking questions which I sometimes can't even begin to answer.
Meanwhile, Av has started Karate classes which he adores. He usually attends twice a week. He is learning at home but he doesn't recognise it as homeschooling, just does what he likes to do.
J is teething. Hands shoved in the mouth and slobber has given me the clue that he is getting more teeth, and he then told me. "Teeth" pointing into the back of his mouth. He hasn't been too upset though. He has taken to feeding on me about 3 times a day and for longer periods. Colostrum is available now. Toilet learning regression has been frustrating - not sure why this is happening but we try to take it in our stride and hopefully all works out by the time bub is born. He is still not talking much but says a few words and is able to communicate sufficiently. He now realises there is a "Bae" (baby) in my belly rather than a "Ball"!
I am now in the 32nd week gestation. I love this baby. I didn't feel as strongly with my other babies so its a wonderful feeling. Not in my ribs yet, quite low and compact actually with lots of movement and sensations which I honestly continue to enjoy. One thing that has stood out for me is that I can look at my four children and not think its many kids, someone is missing. I assume its this bub in utero who is keen to meet us and us, him. I say 'him' because I have always thought I would have 4 boys and 1 girl but I could be wrong. I am happy with either gender but honestly having a girl will be a surprise.

I have been busy crafting for baby. Actually getting the hang of embellishing too.

I have enjoyed making quite a few matching sets ie. hats and tops.

Made plenty of woollies too. Most yarns I have been using lately have been from the Back Room at BWM in Bendigo. Noro Taiyo is in there too, love the bonnet especially with the long repeats of colour.

Newborn pair of crocheted overalls using doubled sock yarn. Probably only fit once but I think they are cute.

Completed Kid Blanket for Av. I still found it narrow but still big enough for a 5 year old. It may be slightly heavy for a younger child to carry around.

Now its Autumn and I hope I can make good use of my time as the time draws nearer for me to meet my next baby. There is many things I want to do, need to do. I have been reading a little, having only just finished "Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering" by Dr Sarah J. Buckley. Her writing about instincts and the references to back up why we should leave birth alone is awe inspiring. Of course, it all makes sense to me but its nice to read about an educated women who had 4 babies at home (the last unassisted), believes in delayed cord clamping (even having lotus births), co-sleeping because its safe and makes breastfeeding much easier which in turns makes for happier families, full term breastfeeding where she speaks of feeding her children to 4 years and beyond. So people can say all they like about "those crazy hippies", but gosh they are smart.

Here are my awesome 4 in our bed, the two youngest are asleep. No room for the parents so the big kids are sent to their rooms and Av carried to bed. J can stay. Over the years we have had musical beds. My daughter loved co-sleeping and stayed mostly with Dad til I had Av when she started sleeping with her 2.5year old brother. Av was not keen on co-sleeping though we still slept in the same room. He liked his own space and slept in the cot. Shortly after he turned 2, he slept with his older siblings. Soon after, my daughter conceded she was too big to share a bed and has since enjoyed sleeping on her own in her room. She still loves to have sleeps with her brothers in the lounge room on the weekends. This is usually when J will not join us at night. Its not that comfortable sharing a queen size bed with a pregnant woman, a big man and a toddler but we manage. And interestingly I haven't had the chronic shoulder/back pain I was suffering with before I became pregnant. I feel quite fortunate, with not feeling any such pains, at least not at this stage. Still with around 10 weeks of pregnancy ahead of me, my best bet is to continue looking after myself. I didn't have any fears with my last pregnancy with J but more have come up in this one but I will process these thoughts as I trudge along. I think my main stress at the moment is how will I manage with 5 children in a small house. Ideally we would move house but its seems like the impossible, with no money to spare, but I do look forward to more space in due time.

33

Its my birthday present! Lame maybe but I like that I can make something for myself. Made from Karaoke soy/wool.

I have been making many things for the baby. I am not buying much at all, I don't need to. Above is J holding Junior in Victorian baby's cape crocheted in Karaoke soy/wool. He notices babies now and calls them 'bay'.

Receiving blanket in soy with corn edging. Think I will enjoy using this. I love making blankets but babywearing and co-sleeping usually means you don't often use them.
Lots of crochet baby things...

The yarn is fair trade and organic alpaca 4ply dyed to be a gradual gradient in Gypsy Rainbow colourway by Jolly Jumbuck, which was lovely but maybe not the best choice with the pattern. Without a diagram I couldn't work out the pattern so I made it my own way. Its very long using 110grams but hope it may be useful.

Have been knitting too...

Dreamerz organic cotton/milk singlet.

This Versa for J. I hadn't made anything for him in a while so it was sad when he didn't show much enthusiasm for trying it on. Versa is a fun pattern though so I am glad to see it in action.

Finally finished putting the squares I made in 2010 together, 16 crocheted and 4 knitted.

Also another WIP finished. Most of the work for this bath mat was in tearing up the sheet to be crocheted.

Also been working on my embellishing which I am quite happy with. I think organic wool is a joy to do needlework with as opposed to cotton which I struggled to do.

As for what our family have been doing, the children have been enjoying spending time playing with the neighbours. They often play together since we moved here but even moreso lately. They go to different schools so I think that is a good thing. Not that they are in same grades anyway. Av is younger and being 5 is asked if he is going to school. Thankfully he is happy to stay home and learn as he has been in the past 5 years.

This week we took the kids bowling as they sometimes enjoy doing. J loves it too. Here they are playing air hockey which is a fun pasttime too.

We had our first family BBQ! I am vegetarian so its not as exciting as it was for the kids and hubby! Rye bread around sausages with fruit/veg juice to wash it down.

On Australia Day (Invasion day) we decided to take the kids to Eureka Skydeck. They know the building well and spot it whenever we are near the City. Last time we went there was also Australia Day 2 years ago when J was only a small baby. This time we went in the evening. I think many people had the idea to watch the fireworks from a new height.

Since I am posting photos and most of my photos lately have been cruddy (can I blame the camera?) so I want to share this one which is offensive to children apparently. That is why my children think its normal and wonderful, right?

Witnessed in our house by children for almost 11 years. "Some Western person say that's disgusting...." This is the longest I have breastfed for (28mths and counting) and I can't see what the fuss is about. Not to say its not challenging because to me it really is, yet its normal. Full stop.